SHREDLAGE®. The Process.

Proven by university studies, independent labs and leading dairies, SHREDLAGE^® is a patented conditioning process for the production of corn silage. It involves chopping the plants to greater lengths than usual, ranging from 21 to 30 millimeters, and then processing the chopped material with a special SHREDLAGE^® processor. The rollers on this patented processor, which have counter-directional helical grooves, chop up the cob fragments completely and crush the kernels to split them thoroughly. In addition, the stalk fragments are also shredded longitudinally into strings and their bark layer is peeled thanks to the special surface of the rollers.

This intensive processing multiplies the surface of the chopped material many times, resulting in significantly improved bacterial fermentation during ensiling and, above all, during digestion in the cow's rumen.

SHREDLAGE^® is long-chopped corn silage which has also undergone special conditioning. This special conditioning can only be achieved with the genuine MCC SHREDLAGE^® processor. CLAAS manufactures the rollers at the CLAAS Industrietechnik facility in Paderborn, Germany.

Trials conducted by the University of Wisconsin in 2012 show that SHREDLAGE^® drastically increases the physical effectiveness of corn silage in the rumen while also improving the availability of the starch contained in all parts of the plant. As a result, the daily milk yield in the herds studied increased by up to 2.4 lbs* per cow. Furthermore, the rumen-friendly structure of the silage improved herd health.

A higher milk yield and improved livestock health are not the only benefits SHREDLAGE^® has to offer dairy producers. As the availability of starch is optimized, it is possible to reduce the quantity of feed concentrate used while obtaining a higher overall milk yield. It is also possible to limit or even eliminate the use of fiber supplements such as straw, thereby providing further scope for cost savings.